Texas 1st baseman Chris Davis celebrates after hitting a solo home run, Davis hit 2 home runs on the day to help the Rangers to victory.The Texas Rangers weathered not only an actual storm (which delayed the start of the game 2 hours and 24 minutes) but a storm of Yankee hits (13 to be exact) to pull out a win.
Texas managed to knock Joba Chamberlain out of the game early after scoring 3 runs on him in only 4 innings of work. The Rangers then knocked around the New York bullpen to the tune of 4 more runs in their 4 innings of pitching. Yankees' relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves allowed 3 earned runs and saw his ERA jump from 1.84 to 3.24 and received the loss (3-1).
Ranger starting pitcher Kevin Millwood managed to get through 5.2 innings but faltered after the Rangers gave him a 3-0 lead after 4 innings. Millwood walked 4 batters, allowed 9 hits, and 3 earned runs. Jason Jennings relieved Millwood to get the final out of the top of the 5th and the first out of the 6th before his night was done. Jennings got the win (2-1). Texas managed to persevere through New York's 13 hits by turning 3 double plays on the game. New York left 12 runners on base for the game.
The Rangers bottom of the 1st started out with a triple from Ian Kinsler that turned out to be insignificant. Michael Young followed Kinsler with a grounder to the third base side. Kinsler tried to fake to home in order to create some hesitancy in New York 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez but his plan backfired as Rodriguez faked a throw to first and immediately ran at the 3rd base bag. A-Rod dove and touched the bag with the ball in his hand and in a close play Kinsler was out at 3rd on a fielder's choice. Amazing play by Rodriguez, somewhat of a head-scratching decision on Ian's part. Josh Hamilton came up next and hit into another fielder's choice, this time Young was out at second. The inning that started out with a runner on 3rd and 0 outs was now 2 outs and J-Ham on 1st. Luckily for the Rangers, hot hitting Nelson Cruz came up to bat next and knocked a double to left field that put runners on 2nd and 3rd. David Murphy followed with a walk to load the bases and then Marlon Byrd hit a 2-2 pitch to right field for a single. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz both scored, giving the Rangers their first lead of the series at 2-0. Chris Davis followed with his 67th strikeout of the season to end the inning.
Texas struck again in the bottom of the 4th in their first at-bat of the inning. Chris Davis ended a 1 for 30 slump on an 0-1 pitch that he sent deep over the center field wall, making it 3-0 Rangers. That would be all for Texas though as Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out and Omar Vizquel and Ian Kinsler both flied out to end the inning.
The Yankees would strike back quickly in the top of the 5th. Kevin Millwood started off the inning strong as he got New York shortstop Derek Jeter to ground out and then left fielder Johnny Damon to fly out to get 2 quick outs. Unfortunately for the Rangers Ace, the first pitch Yankees 1st baseman Mark Texeira saw was driven deep to right field into the upper deck for a home run that put New York on the board 3-1. Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez reached next on an infield single that bounced off of Millwood's hand, but that was all for New York as 2nd baseman Robinson Cano hit a liner to Ian Kinsler's glove to end the inning.
New York wasn't finished yet and continued their string of hits in the top of the 6th. Yankees center fielder Brett Gardner (who came into the game in the 1st inning after Melky Cabrera was injured chasing Ian Kinsler's triple) led off the inning with a single and then stole second base. New York had 5 steals and Gardner had 3 by himself for the game. Yankees DH Hideki Matsui followed with a double to right field that scored Gardner and reduced the Rangers lead to 3-2. Kevin Millwood got right fielder Nick Swisher to strike out but then allowed catcher Francisco Cervelli to single to center field scoring Matsui from 2nd base, and tying the game at 3-3. Derek Jeter followed by hitting into a fielder's choice in which Cervelli was out at second, New York was down to their final out of the inning. Jeter stole second but it didn't matter as Millwood walked Johnny Damon who would be the last batter he faced. Millwood was done after 5 2/3 innings with 2 on and 2 out and Jason Jennings was brought in to clean up his mess. Jennings made a great defensive play after Mark Texeira hit a weak ground ball down the first base line that Jennings charged and made a great throw to 1st to end the inning.
The Texas bottom of the 6th started out harmlessly with a David Murphy groundout to 2nd base. Marlon Byrd followed with a double down the right field line. Byrd was 2-4 on the day with 2 RBI's and 1 run. Chris Davis was next and struck out for his 68th of the season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia came up to bat next and delivered with a single to right field that scored Byrd and gave Texas the lead back at 4-3. Omar Vizquel fouled out to end the inning.
The bottom of the 7th started out quick for Texas after Ian Kinsler hit a single on the first pitch he saw and Michael Young hit a double on his first pitch which combined to end the night for Alfredo Aceves. Phil Coke relieved Aceves and the first batter he faced was Josh Hamilton. Hamilton grounded into a sacrifice fielder's choice that scored Kinsler from 3rd and made it 5-3 Rangers. Nelson Cruz was intentionally walked which led to David Murphy hitting a sac fly to center field that scored Michael Young from third and gave Texas even more distance from the Yankees on the scoreboard 6-3. Marlon Byrd flied out to end the inning.
Texas wasn't finished padding their lead yet and the bottom of the 8th started the same way the 4th did; with a Chris Davis home run. Davis took a 1-1 pitch deep over the right field that hit the Kia sign just below the upper deck. Davis was 2-4 on the day with 2 solo home runs and 2 strikeouts. Texas led 7-3 with no outs but the inning would end after a strikeout from Salty, a groundout by Vizquel, and a fly out by Ian Kinsler.
Frank Francisco came for the bottom of the 9th (even though it wasn't a save situation) and didn't allow the heart of the Yankees order to hit the ball beyond the infield. Francisco got Texeira to ground out to second, A-Rod to pop out to the short stop, and the only hit he allowed was an infield single to Robinson Cano. After getting behind in the count 3-0 to Brett Gardner, Francisco settled down and got 3 consecutive strikes looking to end the game.
Texas Wins 7-3
News and Notes:
- Texas is now 27-18, the best record in the American League.
- The Rangers now have a 4-game lead on the Los Angeles Angels after their loss against the Chicago White Sox 4-2.
- Texas has the best record in the American League and the 2nd best in the entire Major Leagues behind the Dodgers. (Didn't know if you saw that the first time and yes I know its early)
- Texas is tied with New York with the best road record in the American league at 12-11.
- Chris Davis hit his 11th and 12th home runs of the year and is now tied for the team lead with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler. Each are tied for 5th in the American League.
- Rangers Closer Frank Francisco still has not allowed a run this year in 16 and 2/3 innings.
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